A Colombian businessman has been inspired by the Sandy Hook school shootings to produce a range of bulletproof clothing for children.

Twenty children and six school staff were killed at the junior school in Newtown, Connecticut after Adam Lanza forced his way in armed with an assault weapon.

Despite 20 years manufacturing protection equipment for high-risk situations, and although Colombia has been plagued by a bloody internal conflict for the last 50 years, Miguel Caballero said the idea of making bulletproof clothing for children never crossed his mind.

But now he has started making bulletproof vests attached to bulletproof backpacks. Tests using machine guns and handguns show the clothing can withstand a barrage of bullets.

"We started getting emails from customers asking for protected (clothing) because they were afraid to take their kids to school," he said.

"The product was created with the American market in mind, not for the Latino market. All the designs and colours, everything is thought out with them in mind."

Image:Flowers are left in tribute to those who were killed

The entrepreneur said the bulletproof backpack and vest has already been ordered by a US distributor.

The Colombian is not the only one looking at the market - at least three US armoured backpacks designed to shield children reported a large spike in sales and interest after the school shooting.

Among them is Massachusetts-based company, Bullet Blocker, which has been selling armoured backpacks since 2007. It said last month that its sales had tripled following the Sandy Hook tragedy.

Most of the children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre would not have been saved by wearing armoured backpacks as they were shot at close range and some were hit in parts of their bodies that would not have been protected by bulletproof clothing.

Children also usually leave their backpacks inside the classroom and do not wear them at their desk or while walking through the school.